The Sharmas came good to help India to their first win over Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground since 1986.
First, it was the pace of Ishant Sharma that undid Australia. Ishant (4-37) registered his career-best figures and with Sreesanth's support act (3-31) bundled out the hosts for 159 in under 44 overs in this fifth game of the CB Series.
Later, Rohit Sharma kept the faith posed in him. His unbeaten 39 was hard-fought and scored when the chips were down, and with the Australian pace foursome giving no quarters. Along with captain MS Dhoni, he added 58 runs to take India home on a pitch that was assisting seam movement.
India were in trouble around the 25th over, thanks to a mixture of injudicious stroke-play and incisive Australian bowling. Tendulkar had just departed after a soothing 44, Gambhir's technique was inadequate against a nasty Brett Lee lifter and Yuvraj perished to the demons in his head.
Rohit and Dhoni survived some rough overs from Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken and company. They then feasted on the part-time fare of Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke to finish off the game.
Ishant, Sreesanth run through Australia
Ishant hadn't had many wickets to show for his hard work on this tour. Sunday was different. After an expensive start, he got Matt Hayden to edge one to slip. From there on, India prevailed.
That was after Australia had elected to bat and Adam Gilchrist had been done in in the game's first over - LBW to Sreesanth when he had got a huge edge on the ball. Umpire Rudi Koertzen, staying true to the umpiring standards this Australian summer, gave it out.
Gilchrist walked back. Exemplarily, there was no shake of the head, or a glare back at the umpire.
Ponting's horror run continued - he edged Ishant to slip, much like in Perth, after scoring 9.
Andrew Symonds (14) didn't last long either. He edged one to Dhoni off Ishant. This time there would be no gifts from the umpire.
Dhoni would be mighty pleased with his contribution: 17 tough runs, four catches and a stumping. Not to forget he has now led India to the top of the points table with this win. India are on 8 points, one ahead of Australia, while Sri Lanka are on 2.
Michael Hussey was Australia's top-scorer, delivering right when they needed him to. His unbeaten 65 (88 balls, 4x4s) - the match's highest score - gave his team a fig leaf of a score.
Only if Australia had played out their 50 overs with a lower-order batsman sticking it out with Hussey, the outcome of this match could have been different.
India's batting woes continue
In the end, it was as comprehensive a win as any against the world champions. But for India, pertinent questions about their batsmen's form remain.
Virender Sehwag came out, hoping to score those 160 in two overs. In the process, he played and missed three times in the innings' first over by Lee, while edging one past slip for four.
He didn't last long, his six-or-out innings terminated by a sharp Bracken in-cutter, much like in their previous encounter.
Tendulkar, on the other hand, was easy on the eyes. Replays suggested Tendulkar had benefitted from a Koertzen error - a caught-behind appeal turned down.
But apart from that one blemish, his strokes were smooth, none smoother than the three drives in a Brett Lee over that would have had even his hardest critics sighing. One went through cover, and two down the ground on either side of the wicket.
Irfan Pathan's promotion ahead of the in-form Gambhir remained a mystery. Pathan didn't waste anybody's time. He got in, scored 18 quickly and got out.
Gambhir batted purposefully, twice running all four with Tendulkar. But he was done in by pace and bounce by Lee, whose summer just keeps getting better each passing day.
Yuvraj's lack of form is a concern, not because he's not getting runs - he soon should - but because he looks like he is not even trying to get runs. And that is unlike him.
On Sunday, Yuvraj looked totally out of place against the pace bowlers. A loose shot to cover put him out of his misery. He now has 2 & 3 in the CB Series to go with the 0, 5, 12 and 0 in the Tests.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
SRK stands HIGH @ Berlin Film Festival
As German fans drooled over Shah Rukh Khan, the national media shed its perceptions of "bullock cart India" and trained its attention on the Bollywood superstar when he landed here, with one journalist even saying "he is as popular as the Pope".
Shah Rukh was here for the screening of Om Shanti Om at the Berlin Film Festival. Some German television channels suddenly turned their cameras from the Hollywood glitterati to Khan as excited fans let out loud shrieks to greet him at the Berlinale Friday night.
Some channels narrated details of Khan's personal life, his wife Gauri and their two children.
The German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which was highly critical about India and Indians until the mid-1990s, when the world began to notice the South Asian country's economic and technological prowess, said that many people from all over Europe had descended on Berlin to see their favourite star.
"He is as popular as the Pope, but he (Khan) has more sex appeal," wrote Ekkehard Knoerer in the Berlin tabloid Die Tageszeitung, while trying to capture the mood at the Berlinale.
Many Germany-based Indians and their German friends agree that two factors have gradually changed perceptions about "bullock cart India", as it was contemptuously referred to in the past by the German media which often resorted to clichés of beggars with maimed bodies on the streets, the sacred cows, the corrupt politicians and the catastrophes.
"The IT revolution and Bollywood have together contributed to a vastly improved image of India's prowess," said Rudolf Schweizer, a German businessman who frequently visits Bangalore and Hyderabad to oversee work contracted to Indian companies.
"India, along with China, is seen as an economic powerhouse and one of the two fastest growing economies of the world," he added.
Shah Rukh Friday also announced that he had plans to direct a film in Berlin, but admitted that he had no concrete dates for the shooting.
A spokesman of Eros Entertainment, a film distribution company which has handled many Bollywood blockbusters in Germany, said that 50 prints of Om Shanti Om or OSO, as it is popularly known, would be distributed all over Germany.
"We hope this film will also open the entire European market for us," he added.
Aside from the film's star-studded cast, particularly Shah Rukh, the theme of reincarnation as depicted in OSO fascinates Germans, many of whom are drawn to Hindu philosophy and the teachings of Indian gurus.
"It's a different and very interesting perspective for many Germans. We may not entirely understand the nuances of Indian culture, but rebirth and reincarnation appeal to many of us," Ursula Roth, who works as a teacher near Berlin, told IANS.
Perhaps it is the "illogical and supernatural aspect of the subject which appeals to an otherwise logical-minded people", Roth tried to explain the phenomenal German interest in OSO.
Bollywood has also created a greater interest in Indian cuisine and it is not uncommon to find many Germans frequently shopping for spices in Indian grocery stores that are sprouting in many German cities.
In capital Berlin alone, the number of Indian restaurants has risen sharply from 150 in 2001 to 250 now, according to the Berlin Economic Development Agency.
"This increase augurs well for our business," says an employee of Choudry Food Traders, which supplies all kinds of products to Indian restaurants and also sells them in its own store.